Just going by the one picture...that looks like an average cat in terms of the pelt. (No offense intended, my first one was just about the same.) Before springing for a full body mount, I would wait until you get a real "looker" if it was me. If you are anywhere in the south half of the state, you can get another one next year. IMO, there are too many of these things and I would favor increasing the take every year. I would look to tan that one, as it is cool to have those pelts to look at. Congrats on the nice catch!

Oh...you said you are trying for coyotes and snagged the cat...I have done exactly that too. There is NO BETTER coyote set than one that had a cat in it IMO. I would reset that place pronto and I might even add a second trap 5 feet away or so too. As a couple of years ago we caught a cat, reset it and snagged a coyote that night...and the coyote had apparently been traveling with one or more other yotes as the snow surrounding the set was COVERED in coyote tracks just outside the catch circle. I took it from the sign present that once Wile E. Coyote #1 got snapped that his partner(s) did not leave the area immediately and would have been caught themselves if I had another trap or two in the immediate area as just about every square millimeter had a coyote track in it for the surrounding 15 feet. Good luck!

Just going by the one picture...that looks like an average cat in terms of the pelt. (No offense intended, my first one was just about the same.) Before springing for a full body mount, I would wait until you get a real "looker" if it was me. If you are anywhere in the south half of the state, you can get another one next year. IMO, there are too many of these things and I would favor increasing the take every year. I would look to tan that one, as it is cool to have those pelts to look at. Congrats on the nice catch!

Oh...you said you are trying for coyotes and snagged the cat...I have done exactly that too. There is NO BETTER coyote set than one that had a cat in it IMO. I would reset that place pronto and I might even add a second trap 5 feet away or so too. As a couple of years ago we caught a cat, reset it and snagged a coyote that night...and the coyote had apparently been traveling with one or more other yotes as the snow surrounding the set was COVERED in coyote tracks just outside the catch circle. I took it from the sign present that once Wile E. Coyote #1 got snapped that his partner(s) did not leave the area immediately and would have been caught themselves if I had another trap or two in the immediate area as just about every square millimeter had a coyote track in it for the surrounding 15 feet. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I second Daver - cats are really cool to catch but I'd wait on a full body mount for a better looking cat but if you want to preserve the memory go ahead and mount it... with that said I don't have any taxidermy suggestions like you were asking for. haha The guy I used has moved out of state.

I second Daver - cats are really cool to catch but I'd wait on a full body mount for a better looking cat but if you want to preserve the memory go ahead and mount it... with that said I don't have any taxidermy suggestions like you were asking for. haha The guy I used has moved out of state.

Click to expand...

That's the problem. I will not trap much in southern Iowa. The county that I trap you cannot keep cat's. And this was my oldest boys first trap set with me and we caught a bobcat! So that was pretty cool! The other problem is the ground that I caught this cat on we can no longer trap next year so I would have to find new ground down south to catch another cat. The CO that tagged him said the same thing. 2 year old male but still a nice cat.

Then mount that kitty kat! Sounds like some great memories with the boy.

I've been holding off on getting some critters tanned, waiting until my son is old enough to come along. Makes the mount/tanned hide mean that much more and hold a better memory vs one I shot/trapped myself.

Personal opinion from reading and observing trapping forums. Buy once, cry once. I'd make the trip south to Missouri and find someone who is very good. Timberland Taxidermy in Missouri has turned out the best cat and small mammal mounts I've seen